In this review I will talk about the brand-new Formatt-Hitech filter, the Firecrest 16 (16 ND stops in one filter, this is what 16 stands for). This is the most neutral and, in its circular version, the slimmest stackable ND filter in the world, only 5.5mm thin.[caption id="attachment_2820" align="aligncenter" width="620"] Formatt-Hitech Firecrest 16 IRND 4.8 - Circular + Rectangular filters with package[/caption]You can find more things about the Firecrest filters in the book From Basics to Fine Art – B&W Photography, by me and Joel Tjintjelaar, where we both talk about these filters extensively together with reviewing the most important other filters on the market and generally the equipment you need for creating long exposure and fine art architectural photography. We were the first who talked publicly about the Firecrest filters (in the book) even before they were released and now we do this again by reviewing these filters extensively on our sites too. You can read a review of the Firecrest 16 also on Joel Tjintjelaar's site.
Also, keeping the tradition of the book, I'm going to make another exclusive announcement about the Firecrest filters at the end of this review, some very fresh news that haven't yet been announced publicly. Read the reiew till the end and you will be the first to know. It's great news, this is the only tip I will give you now.

Inspiration...

What is inspiration?
Can gear give you inspiration? Can a neutral density filter give you inspiration? I say it can. Because it can open you new horizons and give you new possibilities. Let's see why...

First time ever a 16-stop ND filter

Let's start by saying that this filter is a first. It is the first time anyone builds a 16-stop ND filter. Why this wasn't possible before? Because anything higher then 10 stops would have had a heavy color cast that was making getting a decent result color-wise in the image almost impossible. The highest density ND filter you could find was so far the 15-stop Singh-Ray but it was not free of color cast and , despite what you might think, there is a big difference between 15 stops and 16 stops – in terms of exposure 16 stops means a double exposure of what you can get with 15 stops, which is very important. In addition, Singh-Ray filters are traditionally quite expensive so they are not a solution for everyone. But the main problem with higher density filters was the color cast, especially for those